Decorative ornament

ABSTRACT

An ornament is provided for decorating Christmas trees and the like, comprised of two rigid parts which are mechanically joined together without the aid of an adhesive material, with one of the parts having an integral hook member for receiving a hanger for the ornament. The two parts are hollow and when joined together form a hollow ornament and are preformed of, preferably, a thermoformable plastic material containing appropriate additives to make the walls of the parts relatively rigid and smooth for subsequently receiving a decorative surface material. Such decorative materials may be a covering of strand windings of lustrous materials, such as rayon acetate. In addition, the integral hook member is configured and joined to its integral part of the ornament in a manner whereby it is utilized as the drive shaft to be received in a spindle for winding the yarn covering over the ornament, thus eliminating the need for a hole through the axis of the ornament for receiving a separate shaft connected to the spindle in such winding operations.

United States Patent 91 Chase I 1 1 DECORATIVE ORNAMENT [75] Inventor: 'Ascher Chase, Virginia Beach, Va.

[73] Assignee: General Foam Plastics Corp.,

Norfolk, Va.

221 Filed: Sept. 27, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 294,262

[52] U.S. Cl l6l/l6, 161 /13, D29/l Kubilias 161/16 Primary Examiner-Wil1iam E. Schulz Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Mandeville and Schweitzer 1 Apr. 9, 1974 5 7 ABSTRACT An ornament is provided for decorating Christmas trees and the like,-comprised of two rigid parts which are mechanically joined together without the aid of an adhesive material, with one of the parts having an integral hook member for receiving a hanger for the ornament. The two parts are hollow and when joined together form a hollow ornament and are preformed of,

preferably, a thermoformable plastic material containing appropriate additives to make the walls ofthe parts relatively rigid and smooth for subsequently receiving a decorative surface material. Such decorative materials may be a covering of strand windings of lustrous materials, such as rayon acetate. 1n addition, the

- integral hook member is configured and joined to its integral part of the ornament in a manner whereby it is utilized as the drive shaft to be received in a spindle for winding the yarn covering over the ornament, thus eliminating the need for a hole through the axis of the ornament for receiving a separate shaft connected to the spindle in such winding operations.

14 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 DECORATIVE ORNAMENT Generally speaking, this invention relates to a decorative ornament for decorating Christmas trees or other displays. More particularly, this invention relates to a decorative ornament which is hollow and comprised of two parts, which may be readily mechanically snapped together without the use of adhesives, with one of the parts having an integral hook which provides simultaneously for receiving a hanger element for the decorative ornament and for being received in a machine spindle for holding the ornament as it is spun to receive wound strands of a decorative covering material, such as rayon acetate, for example.

1 As is well known, there has been a substantial increase in the demand for decorative ornaments for Christmas trees and for other displays in the last few years. Thus, it has become important to be able to mass produce such ornaments as rapidly and easily as possible, and at as low a cost as possible, so as to make the ornaments saleable for their relatively temporary use. Because of the increased cost in labor, the traditional glass type decorative ornaments for Christmas trees have become much too expensive for routine mass production techniques, and thus, plastics have been utilized more and more because they are relatively easily formed into a plurality of different sizes and shapes.

There have been many developments in the use of plastic type decorative ornaments, in which a covering of spun fiber, such as rayon acetate, has been applied subsequent to the formation of the plastic ornament, with the plastic actually providing the core for the decorative covering. Such proposals include substantially solid polystyrene foamed objects, which are subsequently placed on spindles for spinning the plastic core while the decorative strands are applied in layers to give the decorative outer appearance to the ornament. These relatively solid cores, however, require a bore through the axis of the solid core for receiving a shaft, which is subsequently inserted in the spindle of a machine for spinning the ornament and'applying the covering. This necessitates provisions subsequently for covering up the holes of the axial bore of the ornament core which, obviously, increases the cost of the final ornament. Alternatively, the bore is left exposed which is somewhat unsightly.

Attempts have been made to overcome this difficulty by providing a hollow core plastic element, usually comprised of polystyrene, because it is readily easily formed into the desired shapes and because-it provides a relatively smooth rigid surface for receiving the subsequent covering. Usually these hollow objects are comprised of at least two parts which are joined together adhesively. For example, the two parts may be the halves of a ball-shaped ornament, which are initially formed separately and then subsequently adhesively joined together. I

One of the desirable advantages of the hollow core type ornament is that an integral hook member may be provided with one-half of the core so that when the two halves are joined together to form a hollow core element for receiving the decorative covering, the hook Thus, even with such hollow core decorative ornaments having an integral hook, provisions are usually made that the bottom hole of the ornament for receiving the shaft be somehow provided with a covering,-or

arranged in a manner where it does not cause an un- 1 sightly' appearance to the final decorative ornament. These subsequent provisions for covering the hole increase the handling of each individual ornament and the cost thereof for mass production techniques.

By contrast, it has now been found, in accordance herewith, that such decorative ornaments can be provided comprised of only two hollow parts which may be mechanically interlocked together without a separate adhesive application step. In addition, one of the parts has an integralhook which serves simultaneously to provide its function for receiving, subsequently, 'a hanger for the decorative ornament, and also serves as the drive shaft itself for being received in the spindle of a spinning machine during the covering operations for applying the decorative strand material of, for example, rayon acetate yarn.-

This is achieved by providing the half of the hollow core having the integral hook with integral braces adjafor the protruding hook element, so that the hollow core is held rigidly during the spinning operation for receiving the decorative covering. Combined with this arrangement .is an annular recessed area formed in the outer surface of the half of the core'element and surrounding the junction between the-hook element and the half of the core to which'it is joined. This annular recess serves the function of increasing the rigidity of this joined area together with providing for a reduction in the accumulation of the applied strands in the area adjacent the axis of the core of the ornament, so thatthere is no bunching, as well known, of the strands of yarn being applied.

With such an arrangement, a hole through the axis of the core element is not required, thus eliminating the need for covering such holes. The bottom half of the core element, therefore, does not require a hole which necessitates any subsequent covering. thereof to enhance the appearance of the final ornament formed.

ever, that it is within the purview of this invention to utilize adhesively joined parts withone part havingthe integral braced driving hook element, in accordance herewith.

Before describing thisinvention in more detail, it

may be well to note that this invention has been found applicable to a wide variety of resins for forming the hollow core for decorative ornaments, in accordance herewith, including, for example, polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride, with the only limitation being that the resin contain, prior to formation of the hollow core of this invention, appropriate additives where necessaryto provide the required rigidity for the hollowcore, while simultaneously providing a slight flexibility so that the two parts may be readily snap-locked together, all in well known manner. Preferably, however, the plastic material is polystyrene. It should be understood, further, that the hollow core for the ornaments, in accordance herewith, may be of clear plastic, translucent or opaque. Obviously, if the element is to be completely covered with windings of a decorative yarn, it need not be clear. However, it is within the purview of this invention that the ornament Alternatively, the core material may be-transparent 4 and be partially covered, to provide spaced sections of decorative covering divided by spaced areas of clear or transparent plastic. Also, pigment may be included in the resin formulation'to provide contrast between subsequent partial yarn coverings and the plastic core. Furthermore, the decorative ornaments herein may be provided with a plurality of shapes, including spheres, ellipsoids, bells, and a variety of fruit shapes, such as apples, oranges or pears, for example. Obviously, the invention is applicable to any geometric configuration which may be readily generated in the formation of core materials comprised of the variety of resin materials described herein. For example, the two halves comprising the hollow core, in accordance herewith, may be in the form of geodesic dome type structure to provide faceted surfaces on the final decorative ornament,

I or thesurface may be comprised of embossed areas in order to provide variety in the surface appearance of the final decorative ornaments, in accordance here with. I

" With the foregoing and other objects in view, this invention willnow be more particularly described, and

other objects and advantages hereof will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.

IN THE DRAWINGS;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a decorative ornament embodying and for practicing this invention, in the form of a sphere;

views thereof, one construction or arrangement embodying this invention is indicated as a decorative ornament in the shape of a balllor sphere, adapted to be covered with a decorative covering of strands of a material such as rayon acetate and, preferably, mass produced by injection molding from polystyrene.

As indicated in FIG. 1, the decorative ball shaped ornament is indicated generally at 10, havinga decorative covering 12 of individual strands of yarn wound over the surface of the ornament l0, and having an integral hook member 14, with the hook 14 having an opening 16 for receiving a hanger element for suspending the ornament on the branch of a Christmas tree, for example.

As shown in FIG. 2, ornament 10 is comprised of a hollow upper part 18 and a hollow lower part 20 and joined along their circumferential edges at 22. Upper part 18 has formed integral with the wall 34 thereof in the area immediately adjacent the hook element 14, a

plurality of integral braces 24. In the construction I shown in FIG'. 2, four braces are arranged equally spaced around the vertical axis of ornament 10, with the braces 24 being joined to hook 14. Disposed around hook 14 in the area immediately adjacent where'hook 14 joins the plurality of braces 24 is an annular recess 26, with recess 26 and braces 24 serving to provide enhanced rigidity for the hook element 24, so that it may be readily utilized as the axial drive shaft for holding and spinning the hollow core of ornament 10 for applying wound decorative covering 12. In this connection, usually hollow cores of this type are driven at speeds of around 15 rpm. (revolutions per minute).

i The wrapping spindle is driven at about 3600 rpm, and

F IG. 2 is a side elevational view of the decorative orlow core of the decorative'element of F 1G1 and showing the circumferentially arranged locking abutments embodying and for practicing this invention; and FIG. 4 is a vertical section along line 44 in FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings, in which like reference Characters refer to like parts throughout the several ing operations.

the high surface speed of the yarn coupled with the tarigential forceof the yarn transmitted to the ball tends to cause the ball to vibrate or to separate from the spindle. Braces 24 eliminate the vibration in conjunction with recess 26 which helps grip the spindle for accommodating the yarn transmitted force which would ordinarily tend to bend the ball at the base of the hook. Thus, the bracing, in accordance herewith, makes the dual utility of hook 14 possible and eliminates the need for-an axial bore and separate drive shafts during cover- As can be seen in FIG. 2, hollow wall 38 of bottom hollow part 20 is continuous in the area immediately adjacent its intersection with the vertical axis of ornament 10 because there is no need for a hole in that area for insertion of a shaft for connecting the ornament to a machine for spinning it during application of the decorative covering 12. However, a recessed area 28 is provided in annular configuration around the intersec-' tion of wall 38 with the vertical axis of ornament 10 to accommodate the. usual bunching of the decorative strands as they are applied in the areas immediately adjacent the outer surface of the hollow core at the verti cal axis thereof. The free ends of the strands are anchored by minute applications of adhesive, all in well known manner.

Referring now to FIG. 3,. a top plan view of part 20 is shown. As can be seen, an annular indentation is provided adjacent the upper circumferential edge of part 20, so as to provide horizontal ledge 36 (FIG. 4) and vertical wall 40. Spaced circumferentially around vertical wall 40 are a plurality of locking abutments 32 for engaging incooperating interlocking fashion, an annular locking edge on upper part 18 of the hollow core.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, four such locking abutments 32 are provided in equally spaced arrangement around the circumferential upper edge of part 20. It should be understood, however, that it is within the purview of this invention that the number of locking abutments 32 may be increased or decreased, as long as they are placed in spaced arrangement around the circumference of part 20. For example, three such locking abutments 32 could be utilized in spaced relation around the upper edge of part 20. If more than four such locking abutments are to be used,care should be taken to make them small enough to provide enough spacing between the abutments in order to give the appropriate snap-locking action necessary when the upper and lower parts 18 and 20 are lockedtogether.

circumferential edge of part 18 has a cooperating in-,

dentation to provide a depending'wall'42, the lowermost edge 48 of which engages ledge 36 of the cooperating indentation of lower part 20. As can be seen in FIG. 4, depending wall 42 of part 18 has an annular locking extension 44. Thus, when part 18 is forced into locking engagement with part 20, annular extension 44 is forced over the locking abutment 32 at point 46, and engages wall 40 of the lower part 20. Thus, the abutments 32 and the extension 44 cooperate to hold the two parts mechanically together. In this connection, it should be understood that the locking arrangement of bottom part 20 and top part 18 may be reversed so that if desired, in the formation of upper part 18, the locking abutments could be provided around the circumferential edge thereof, with the overhang 42 being disposed on bottom part 20. It should be understood that in those instances when the two parts must be aligned because of the configuration of the ornament or to provide alignment of surface embossments and designs,

appropriate male-female mating arrangements may be I ate, as is obvious, with a hanger element for hanging the decorative ornament in an appropriate place. Fur

thermore, the hook is so constructed to rigidly maintain the hollow core of the decorative ornament in properly aligned axial fashion during the spinning thereof for applying a decorative covering on the hollow core of windings of a yarn material such as rayon acetate, in order to provide an appropriately decorated ornament. Furthermore, because the hook serves as the spinning shaft during this operation, no axial bores are required in the ornament core for inserting a shaft for such an operation. Obviously, such an arrangement reduces the handling costs because no provision must be made subsequent to the winding operation to cover these holes, nor must additional decorative materials be inserted 6 into the holes, thus making the invention particularly important for application in mass production techniques.

ing the two parts by conventional formation techniques, as well known, mechanically locking the two parts together in a very simple rapid operation, and subsequently winding a decorative covering over the surface of the hollow core formed by the mechanical locking step. When one visualizes that literally thousands of such decorative ornaments might be produced in a single production run, one can realize the importance in providing for appropriately decorated ornaments of the type discussed herein, produced by only these three steps.

While the constructions and forms herein described constitute a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise construction and form, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An ornament adapted to be hung from the branch of a Christmas tree'and the like; the combination which comprises a hollow first part; a driving hook element integral with said first part; a plurality of integral braces interconnecting said first part and said hook element; a hollow second part, and cooperating interlocking means on said first part and said second part for mechanically holding said parts together to form said ornament.

2. An ornament as recited in claim 1, in which said cooperating interlocking means includes an indentation adjacent the circumferential edge of one of said first and second parts where it joins with the other of said parts, said indentation having a plurality of locking abutments therein; in which the other of said parts has a cooperating indentation with an overhanging wall; said cooperating indentation having an annular locking extension; and said locking abutments and said annular locking extension cooperating to lock said first and second parts together. Y

3. An ornament as recited in claim 2, in which there are four equally spaced locking abutments around said circumferential edge of one of said first and second parts; with an angle formed by the radii drawn from each end of each of said locking abutments to the axis of one of said first and second parts being about 45.

4. An ornament as recited in claim 1, which is comprised of a member selected from the group consisting of polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene and poly vinyl chloride.

5. An ornament as recited in claim 1, which includes a covering of one or more layers of strands of rayon acetate yarn.

6. An ornament as recited in claim 1, which also includes an annular recess around said driving hook element adjacent the connection of saidhook'element with said plurality of braces.

" 7. An ornament as recited in claim 1, in which said second part has an annular recess formed adjacent the intersection of the wall thereof with the axis of said part.

8. An ornament as recited in claim 1, in which the shape thereof is a member selected from the group consistingof a sphere, ellipsoid, bell, apple, orange and pear. I

'9. An ornament adapted to be hung from the branch of a Christmas tree or the like; the combination which comprises a hollow first part, a driving hook element integral with said first part; a hollow second part, an indentation adjacent the circumferential edge of one of said first and second parts where it joins with the other of said parts; said indentation having a plurality of locking abutments therein; the other of said parts having a cooperating indentation with anoverhanging wall; said cooperating indentation having an annular locking extension; and said locking abutments and said annular locking extension cooperating to lock said first and second parts together.

10.An ornament as recited in claim 9, in which said indentation is comprised of a horizontal ledge and a first vertical wall; in which said plurality of' locking abutments extend substantially horizontally from said first vertical wall; in which saidoverhang wall has a second vertical wall for cooperating with said first vertical wall, and said annular locking extension is disposed on said second vertical wall; and the lower face of said integral with said first part; a plurality of integral braces interconnecting said first part and said hook element; a hollow second part; said first and second parts being connected togetherto form said ornament.

12. An ornament as recited in claim 11, which also includes an annular recess around said driving hook element. adjacent the connection of said hook element with said plurality of braces.

13. An ornament as recited in claim 1 l, in which said second part has an annular recess formed adjacent the intersection of the wall thereof with the axis of said part. 7

14. An ornament adapted to be suspended from the branch of a Christmastree or the like, comprising a. a hollow three-dimensional figure having predeter-,

mined top and bottom portions;

b. said top portions including an integral driving element projecting upwardlyand outwardly therefrom and definitive of a predetermined axis of rotation;

c. said driving hook element having at least one flat surface adapted to be keyed with rotary driving means;

d. outer decorative covering means for said ornament;

c. said decorative covering including thread means wound about said' figure at high speeds when said ornament is rotated at high speeds about an axis defined by said driving element;

f. saiddriving element including an opening and defining a hanger means for suspending said ornament. 

2. An ornament as recited in claim 1, in which said cooperating interlocking means includes an indentation adjacent the circumferential edge of one of said first and second parts where it joins with the other of said parts, said indentation having a plurality of locking abutments therein; in which the other of said parts has a cooperating indentation with an overhanging wall; said cooperating indentation having an annular locking extension; and said locking abutments and said annular locking extension cooperating to lock said first and second parts together.
 3. An ornament as recited in claim 2, in which there are four equally spaced locking abutments around said circumferential edge of one of said first and second parts; with an angle formed by the radii drawn from each end of each of said locking abutments to the axis of one of said first and second parts being about 45*.
 4. An ornament as recited in claim 1, which is comprised of a member selected from the group consisting of polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride.
 5. An ornament as recited in claim 1, which includes a covering of one or more layers of strands of rayon acetate yarn.
 6. An ornament as recited in claim 1, which also includes an annular recess around said driving hook element adjacent the connection of said hook element with said plurality of braces.
 7. An ornament as recited in claim 1, in which said second part has an annular recess formed adjacent the intersection of the wall thereof with the axis of said part.
 8. An ornament as recited in claim 1, in which the shape thereof is a member selected from the group consisting of a sphere, ellipsoid, bell, apple, orange and pear.
 9. An ornament adapted to be hung from the branch of a Christmas tree or the like; the combination which comprises a hollow first part, a driving hook element integral with said first part; a hollow second part, an indentation adjacent the circumferential edge of one of said first and second parts where it joins with the other of said parts; said indentation having a plurality of locking abutments therein; the other of said parts having a cooperating indentation with an overhanging wall; said cooperating indentation having an annular locking extension; and said locking abutments and said annular locking extension cooperating to lock said first and second parts together.
 10. An ornament as recited in claim 9, in which said indentation is comprised of a horizontal ledge and a first vertical wall; in which said plurality of locking abutments extend substantially horizontally from said first vertical wall; in which said overhang wall has a second vertical wall for cooperating with said first vertical wall, and said annular locking extension is disposed on said second vertical wall; and the lower face of said overhang wall cooperates in abutting engagement with said horizontal ledge.
 11. An ornament adapted to be hung from the branch of a Christmas tree and the like; the combination which comprises a hollow first part; a driving hook element integral with said first part; a plurality of integral braces interconnecting said first part and said hook element; a hollow second part; said first and second parts being connected together to form said ornament.
 12. An ornament as recited in claim 11, which also includes an annular recess around said driving hook element adjacent the connection of said hook eLement with said plurality of braces.
 13. An ornament as recited in claim 11, in which said second part has an annular recess formed adjacent the intersection of the wall thereof with the axis of said part.
 14. An ornament adapted to be suspended from the branch of a Christmas tree or the like, comprising a. a hollow three-dimensional figure having predetermined top and bottom portions; b. said top portions including an integral driving element projecting upwardly and outwardly therefrom and definitive of a predetermined axis of rotation; c. said driving hook element having at least one flat surface adapted to be keyed with rotary driving means; d. outer decorative covering means for said ornament; e. said decorative covering including thread means wound about said figure at high speeds when said ornament is rotated at high speeds about an axis defined by said driving element; f. said driving element including an opening and defining a hanger means for suspending said ornament. 